Back in October I mentioned the This American Life series covering our current economic situation. Well, there is a new addition to the series, and it is equally impressive and informative.
Bad Bank. “The collapse of the banking system explained, in just 59 minutes. Our crack economics team—the guys who explained the mortgage crisis, Alex Blumberg and NPR’s Adam Davidson—are back to help all of us understand the news. For instance, when we talk about an insolvent bank, what does it actually mean, and why are we giving hundreds of billions of dollars to rich bankers who screwed up their own businesses? Also, two guys go to New Jersey to look at a toxic asset.”
This series is put together by the folks at Planet Money — an NPR initiative with an extremely useful blog and podcast of their own. A great resource for understanding the United States’ financial situation as it changes.
It doesn’t happen to be something in Drexel’s eresource collection, But it is a terrific and entertaining free resource that I highly recommend. If you are like me, you’ve had a really hard time getting your mind around our country’s current economic fallout and the subsequent government bailout. Here’s what did it for me:
This American Life is a weekly show out of Chicago on National Public Radio that tells stories centered around a theme. The show airs on WHYY (Philadelphia’s NPR affiliate) on Wednesday evenings at 10pm and again on Sundays at noon. In addition to the radio broadcast, This American Life also offers a free podcast and free streaming video on their website, and has recently begun a television series on Showtime. 2 recent episodes have helped me understand the historical and present decisions that drove our economic fallout:
The Giant Pool Of Money is about the history of Predatory Loans and the housing crisis, told through personal stories of victims and predators involved in the debacle.
Another Frightening Show About The Economy covers the fall of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, etc, and the implications of the bailout bill.
